A height adjustable head restraint assembly is provided with an upright guide adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body proximate to a seat back. The guide has a cross section. A frame has a cavity with a cross section oversized relative to that of the guide to receive the guide. At least one of the guides in the frame has a plurality of projections extending to engage the other for providing guidance therebetween. A head restraint is mounted to the frame for translation along the guide. A motor is mounted to the frame for driving a threaded rod that is engaged with a fixed nut that is mounted to the guide for translating the head restraint. A pair of conductive brushes is provided on the guide and a pair of conductive contacts is mounted to the frame in electrical communication with the motor for providing power to the motor.
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1. A head restraint assembly comprising:
an upright guide adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body proximate to a seat back, the guide having a cross section;
a frame having a cavity with a cross section that is oversized relative the cross section of the guide cross section to receive the guide, wherein at least one of the guide and the frame has a plurality of projections extending to engage the other for providing guidance therebetween; and
a head restraint mounted to the frame for translation along the guide;
wherein the guide comprises a transverse body; and
wherein the guide further comprises a series of longitudinal ribs extending longitudinally in fore and aft directions from the transverse body for engaging the frame.
9. A head restraint assembly comprising:
an upright guide adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body proximate to a seat back;
a frame receiving the guide for translation of the frame along the guide;
a motor mounted to the frame and operably connected to the guide for translating the frame along the guide;
a pair of conductive brushes provided on the guide;
a pair of conductive contacts each mounted to the frame and in electrical communication with the motor, the contacts being in engagement with the brushes along a range of translation of the frame along the guide; and
a head restraint mounted to the frame for translation along the guide;
wherein the guide comprises a pair of support posts; and
wherein the pair of conductive brushes are mounted to a distal end of one of the pair of support posts.
17. A head restraint assembly comprising:
an upright guide adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body proximate to a seat back, the guide having a cross section;
a frame having a cavity with a cross section that is oversized relative the cross section of the guide cross section to receive the guide, wherein at least one of the guide and the frame has a plurality of projections extending to engage the other for providing guidance therebetween;
a head restraint mounted to the frame for translation along the guide;
wherein the guide comprises a transverse body;
wherein the guide further comprises a pair of support posts adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body proximate to a seat back, wherein the transverse body is mounted to distal ends of each of the pair of support posts and extends between the pair of support posts;
wherein a central region of the transverse body extends longitudinally below the distal ends of the support posts for providing stability to the guidance of the frame;
a fixed nut mounted to one of the central region of the transverse body and the frame;
a motor mounted to the other of the central region of the transverse body and the frame;
a threaded rod driven by the motor and engaged with the fixed nut such that rotation of the threaded rod translates the frame along the pair of posts;
a transmission connecting the motor and the threaded rod;
wherein the motor is mounted to the frame and oriented transversely relative to the support posts;
a pair of conductive brushes provided on at least one of the pair of posts; and
a pair of conductive contacts each mounted to the frame and in electrical communication with the motor, the contacts being in engagement with the brushes along a range of translation of the frame along the posts.
2. The head restraint assembly of
3. The head restraint assembly of
wherein the transverse body has a pair of cavities, each sized to receive the distal ends of the support posts.
4. The head restraint assembly of
5. The head restraint assembly of
a fixed nut mounted to one of the central region of the transverse body and the frame;
a motor mounted to the other of the central region of the transverse body and the frame; and
a threaded rod driven by the motor and engaged with the fixed nut such that rotation of the threaded rod translates the frame along the pair of posts.
6. The head restraint assembly of
7. The head restraint assembly of
8. The head restraint assembly of
a pair of conductive brushes provided on at least one of the pair of posts; and
a pair of conductive contacts each mounted to the frame and in electrical communication with the motor, the contacts being in engagement with the brushes along a range of translation of the frame along the posts.
10. The head restraint assembly of
wherein the head restraint assembly further comprises wiring that is concealed within the hollow support post and in electrical communication with the pair of conductive brushes and a vehicle controller.
11. The head restraint assembly of
a fixed nut mounted to the upright guide; and
a threaded rod driven by the motor and engaged with the fixed nut such that rotation of the threaded rod translates the frame along the upright guide.
12. The head restraint assembly of
13. The head restraint assembly of
14. The head restraint assembly of
15. The head restraint assembly of
16. The head restraint assembly of
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This application claims foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) to DE 10 2011 006 243.2, filed Mar. 28, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Various embodiments relate to a vehicle seat assembly having a movable head restraint.
Movable head restraints permit adjustment of a head restraint relative to a seat assembly. One such example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,395 B2 to Yetukuri et al.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
Referring to
The head restraint 14 may include a trim cover 20 for enclosing a cushion (not shown), a housing 22, and a locking mechanism 24. A manual button assembly 26 extends from the housing 22 and the trim cover 20 for manual actuation for disengaging the locking mechanism 24. The button assembly 26 is illustrated oriented to be manually actuated. According to one embodiment, actuation of the button assembly 26 disengages the locking mechanism 24 for actuating the head restraint 14 in a fore and aft direction. One suitable locking mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0270841 A1, which published to Sobieski et al. on Oct. 28, 2010; and which was also filed in Germany as Patent Application No. 10 2010 003 349.9 on Mar. 26, 2010; the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. Another suitable mechanism is disclosed in German Patent Application No. 10 2010 041 942.7 filed on Oct. 4, 2010; the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The button assembly 26 may be utilized for disengaging the locking mechanism 24 for adjustment in the fore and aft direction; and/or may also be employed for height adjustment of the head restraint assembly 10 relative to the seat back 12. Suitable button assemblies are disclosed in German Patent Application No. 10 2010 041 941.9 filed on Oct. 4, 2010; which is also incorporated by reference herein.
For the depicted embodiment, the stationary components of the head restraint assembly 10 are the support posts 16, 18 and a transverse crossbar 28. The transverse crossbar 28 is illustrated in
The housing 22 is provided by a front shell 30 and a rear shell 32 that provide a frame for the head restraint 14 and cooperate with the transverse crossbar 28 and support posts 16, 18 for translation along the guide. The housing 22 is illustrated in a lowermost position of a range of travel in
To provide further guidance between the housing 22 and the guide, the front and rear shells 30, 32 engage the transverse crossbar 28, as illustrated in
Additionally, a series of longitudinal ribs 40 extend from the transverse crossbar 28 in a central region for engaging a cavity 42 provided between the front and rear shells 30, 32. Referring again to
Referring again to
According to one embodiment, the translation of the head restraint 14 along the transverse crossbar 28 and support posts 16, 18 is motor-driven. Accordingly, a motor 48 is mounted to the housing 22 and extends transversely as illustrated in
The invention contemplates utilization of a power adaptation system for getting power to the motor 48. Referring to
The BCM 56 may control the motor 48 for gradual adjustment as selected by a manual control button provided somewhere within the vehicle, such as in the button assembly 26. During an impact condition, the BCM 56 may actuate the motor 48 for translation of the head restraint 14 at a greater speed for positioning the head restraint 14 in a safety position according to an embodiment. The flexibility of the power adaptation system permits various programming for the motor 48 for various seat vehicle designs.
While various embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
Mueller, Karsten, Fey, Ralph, Sobieski, Zdzislaw
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Dec 22 2011 | SOBIESKI, ZDZISLAW | Lear Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 029110 | /0251 | |
Dec 22 2011 | MUELLER, KARSTEN | Lear Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 029110 | /0251 | |
Mar 27 2012 | Lear Corporation | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Jan 30 2013 | Lear Corporation | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N A , AS AGENT | SECURITY INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 030076 | /0016 | |
Jan 04 2016 | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N A , AS AGENT | Lear Corporation | RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 037702 | /0911 |
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